


Childhood

by major_general



Category: Y: The Last Man
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:49:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/major_general/pseuds/major_general
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Glimpses of childhood from different perspectives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Childhood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hsifeng](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hsifeng/gifts).



Beth makes lunch for the twins every morning. Each bag gets a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. One bag gets an apple and one a pear. She adds pretzels or cookies. They don’t need a drink; the school will give them milk. Sometimes she gives them fruit roll ups or fruit by the foot. They like that. She thinks about how her life got to be this way and wonders why she became the caretaker for her younger sisters. She knows that mom has to work to support them, but Beth can’t help feeling like she has more responsibility than any girl should. She wonders if there are other girls out there in other countries making lunches for their little sisters. She wonders what they put in the bags or boxes or sacks. She goes to her encyclopedia to look up lunch in China.

Jennifer does not want to learn how to sew. She knows that she’s supposed to and the other girls are all happy to make themselves dresses, but she can’t imagine spending he time on it. Besides, her stitching is all wrong. She tried to make herself a dress like the one the First Lady wore on tv, but it would not fit anyone. The other girls laughed at her. She was good at every other school subject, but just couldn’t do well in home ec. She knew the other girls must be laughing at her and saying that she would never be good enough to be someone’s wife or mother.

Waverly isn’t pretty, but she can hit a ball. She could run for miles. Her legs are usually bruised and her clothes dirty, but she never minds. She just has fun. The other girls play dress up and Barbies and she just runs and climbs and hits and throws. Someday, she might play in a giant arena with everyone watching and marveling at her skills.

Jacqueline convinces her friend to run away from the orphanage with her. She knows she can’t stay there and knows that her friend has it worse. So one day they simply don’t go back after school. They take the pictures of their families and run. The street has to be better than the home. It will take a different kind of fighting to survive, but at least the fight will be her choice.

Kilina doesn’t want to be a damsel in distress. Every time she plays with the boys they want to save her. They say she’s the girl and so she needs to be saved. She builds a sand castle and says she is the queen of that castle and she will defend it from them. She doesn’t need to be rescued.

Beth loves church. She sits in the pew reading every word out of the missalette, considering what she thinks they mean. In the moments before the priest gets to the podium, she tries to predict what his sermon will be. She considers it a small victory if she gets even a part of it right. She especially loves to sing the songs and ignores everyone who stares at her as she does so at the top of her lungs. She thinks about what someone once told her, that singing is praying twice, and doesn’t care if they judge her or think she’s off key. God will appreciate it. Beth believes the words and prays with every line. “Make me a channel of your peace.” “Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.” The large statue of Jesus almost floats on the wall behind the monstrance and she imagines him coming down from the wall and embracing her in a giant hug. She feels safe with him there. She skips out of church every Sunday fulfilled and overjoyed.

Heidi and Heather do everything together. Heidi sort of hates it at times. She wants to take a class without her sister or have friends that Heather doesn’t. Heidi cuts her hair off one day so that they don’t look exactly the same. Heather sees it and cries. The next day she cuts her hair off too.

Rachel believes that everyone deserves to live. How people who have suffered so much at the hands of others could attack and kill people who just want to live in freedom and security is something she cannot understand. She knows that someday her country will require her to put on a uniform and fight for it, but she knows she could never kill for it. She looks at her little sister and wants to make the world a better place. Rachel wants to tell her that people should not be afraid to just live.

Natalya learns to fight when someone tries to take her orange. She slams her heel down on his toe as hard as she can and elbows him in the stomach. She has to sit facing a wall for a half hour and write “I shall not hit” a hundred times, but she keeps her orange and the bullies leave her alone after that. They do not leave the other girls alone, so Natalya makes herself their guardian. She trips the boys before they can get to the girls. She gets to know the look in their eyes when they are sizing up their prey. She is the better hunter. She spends a lot of time being punished, but it is worth it.

Rose gets a stick and practices fighting with it. In her head, she’s defeating evil armies sent by the gods to destroy her. The neighbor boy sees her at it and challenges her. During their epic battle, she breaks his stick in two. He falls to the ground and she triumphs. That is, until he throws half his stick at her. It hits her in the face and cuts her. She kicks him for that and he starts crying. He runs and tells his mother. Rose’s mother makes her apologize for her unladylike behavior, but her father gives her an extra biccie that night.

Victoria ignores them when they pull her hair. She ignores them when they steal her lunch. She knows they do these things because they are jealous, because her intellect is so much greater than theirs. She ignores their taunts. She ignores their insults. When they steal her chess pieces, she hits them with the board.

Ciba is good at math. It makes sense and she likes it. Each problem is like a puzzle that connects the universe. “A tank when filled holds 1600 liters of water. Mandy fills it 60% full. How much water does she put in the tank?” She finishes her workbook in the first week of school and the teacher won’t give her another so she goes to the library and gets out math books. She teaches herself algebra and then geometry. She sees how they relate to science and gets those books out as well. She starts to measure the grass everyday to see how fast it grows and is mad when her brother mows the lawn and messes up her experiment. She starts keeping track of how many other kids wear black shirts everyday. She does the statistics and makes a chart. She puts it in her desk and doesn’t show anyone. She knows they won’t get it.

Beth plays with blocks and builds a castle. She knocks it down herself. She set up all her dolls and stuffed animals and has a tea party. She draws a picture of her family and hangs it on the refrigerator. She climbs a tree and hangs upside down from the branches. People stare at her when she does that. She swings on the swings and tries to get as high as she can. When she jumps off, two women almost come running to help her, but Beth just laughs on the ground. Beth plays checkers with her dad and Candy Land with her mom. She chases Ampersand around the house and dresses him in her doll’s dress. She has a tutor who comes in and teaches her math and reading and French. She reads the books and has questions for her parents. They tell her she’s the most special girl in the whole world. She should be happy she doesn’t have to go to school with other kids who would tease her and pick on her. She imagines that would be bad, but she wonders simply what it would be like.


End file.
